Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to refute the assertion in the MPI put forward by the Hon. Joe Hockey, the member for North Sydney. But I should apologise to the chamber upfront. There was a little bit of confusion about who was going to speak, and after the member for Cowan’s performance on the doors we thought he would be over this side performing for us in this part of the MPI, so I was called in at the last minute.

The member for North Sydney put on an incredible performance to kick off the MPI, a performance like a bad actor in a badly scripted soap opera, where he does not really believe the lines, he does not really care about the lines but has to mouth the words so that he keeps getting paid. You could see it in the member for North Sydney’s delivery.

Obviously he does change like any actor—even a bad actor—when the camera is on him. He will change completely. I noticed the other day that he even took a camera with him up Kilimanjaro. It is a shame I did not see him before he went, when we had a bit of a break. I would have loved to have given him one of my books by Ernest Hemingway, called The Snows of Kilimanjaro. It is a pretty famous short story. It is not my favourite Hemingway short story but it begins with the paragraph:

Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai ‘Ngaje Ngai’, the House of God. Close to the western summit there is a dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.

That is the pretty famous opening paragraph from that short story. I would have loved to have given the member for North Sydney my copy of that book but, unfortunately, I have already given it to somebody—I think it is with Therese Rein at the moment, actually. I am sure it will find its way back to me.

In his presentation the member for North Sydney obviously forgot to mention some fundamental facts, such as the fact that the global financial crisis has stripped $210 billion from the tax revenues of Australia. He did not mention that. He papered over it. Like a bad actor in a bad soap opera he just papered over that fact and kept talking about the good old days when he was a minister. Anyone who claims to be a shadow minister, and who takes the pay to be a shadow Treasurer, should know from economics 101 that when times are tough you need to borrow to finance any temporary deficits. You cannot strip $210 billion out of the system and expect to keep paying the gas bills. What else would you do? You would have to either slash government spending significantly—and we have heard nothing from those opposite, apart from the bit of show that we had from the member for Cowan talking about the Building the Education Revolution here; obviously when they are back home in their electorates this is front and centre in their newsletter—or increase taxes.

That is obviously what their proposal is, and we could have a real debate about that. There was no mention of that. Economics 101 would state that any other proposal is simply voodoo economics. The Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law detailed the financially significant consequences of not approving Labor’s Nation Building for Recovery plan—but for this, some 210,000 people out of work. With mum, dad and the kids, that would have meant misery for about a million people if we had not followed the policy that the Rudd government took—which was to pull the levers that we had to prop up the economy. Imagine the number of people that would be out of work if those opposite had found 10 more fools to vote against Labor’s Nation Building for Recovery plan!

The second opposition speaker was the member for Bowman, and it is a shame he is not here now. He only has two speeches, which he always delivers with aplomb. Tonight was the economic speech. Obviously he forgot to go to the planning session for the MPI or did not attend the planning session so he just gave his usual economic speech, which was a little bit encyclopaedia and a little bit economics 101 textbook. He did not actually address the MPI at all. He obviously needs to get a little bit more organised, but, like many of those opposite, he could not organise a rock fight in a gravel pit.

Then we heard from the member for Cowan. I have already attacked him in my opening statements. He wandered all over the place. He did not address the fundamental economic considerations that Australia recognises—that we have come through the worst economic times since the Great Depression. Obviously those opposite need to take note. There is a dried and frozen carcass lying on the benches opposite me, and we need Joe to drag that carcass back to Kilimanjaro. (Time Expired)

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